Chapter 157 Revisiting an Old haunt (End of Main Text)

Wu Peng ended his vacation early and returned to Shenzhen.

The fan factory is going out of business and has already closed down. The workers have been laid off, and only a few people are left to guard the factory.

Yao Fangyuan was transferred to the investment promotion office after only a few days of being on standby at home.

Wang Huaizhi was also transferred to the investment promotion office.

The two were sent to Shenzhen on a business trip shortly after starting their jobs. Their tasks were very clear, so they had a clear objective: upon arriving in Shenzhen, they went to find Yao Fanghua and Wu Peng.

This idea was actually Liu Dacheng's, who was also desperate and had no other choice. Hundreds of workers were unemployed and facing the prospect of being laid off and starving. They would block his way every day, pointing their fingers at him and cursing him. Once, he almost got his head smashed open, and Liu Dacheng didn't dare to leave his house. He gritted his teeth and came up with this idea to his superiors, asking them to handle it.

As a result, Yao Fangyuan and Wang Huaizhi were reassigned and sent to Shenzhen.

Unfortunately, Wu Peng was on vacation at the farm with his child. Due to the change in his status, he was feeling uneasy and didn't want to stay in China recently.

When Wu Peng heard on the phone that the fan factory was going out of business, Yao Fanghua told him that she planned to go back to Beijing to take a look.

Wu Peng perked up. "You want to acquire it?" He really had his eye on that piece of land; it would be great to build a large residential complex there.

"The debt and the resettlement of the personnel are quite troublesome. Let's go and see the situation first."

"Wait for me, I'll be right back."

"Aren't you going to take a stroll anymore?" Yao Fanghua chuckled to herself.

Wu Peng: "Thinking about the big housing development suddenly made me feel less anxious."

While waiting for Wu Peng, Yao Fanghua asked Yao Weimin to show Yao Fangyuan and Wang Huaizhi around Shenzhen.

"Brother, is that Yu Qingqing on the screen?" Yao Fangyuan looked out the car window in shock at the person singing and dancing on the screen in front of her.

"Yes, it's her new album." Yao Weimin glanced at it casually while driving before looking away.

"Is it really Yu Qingqing?!" Yao Fangyuan's eyes widened. "She really became a star? How come I've never heard Aunt Bai mention her?" She had heard that Yu Qingqing came to the south to try her luck, saying she wanted to become a singer. She never expected that she would actually become one.

Yao Weimin can now remain completely indifferent when Yu Qingqing is mentioned. He looked at Yao Fangyuan with surprise, "Does Aunt Bai still talk to our family?" He would definitely avoid Aunt Bai if he ran into her when he returned to Beijing.

Yao Fangyuan choked up and changed the subject: "When are you getting married? Before I came here this time, my mother told me several times to ask you when you are getting married."

Yao Weimin does have a girlfriend now, but he hasn't thought about marriage yet.

Wang Huaizhi sat silently to the side, listening to the brother and sister's back-and-forth conversation. He was thinking about how to take more photos later and what local specialties to bring back. He couldn't spend too much, or they would definitely argue when he got home. It would be best to bring back a gift for his wife, so she wouldn't complain.

Since his wife started working, his status at home has plummeted. Not only does she work, but she earns more than him. His wife speaks louder than before, but the only consolation is that she's stopped being unreasonable, suspicious, and prone to making trouble for no reason; she's even started to reason with him. He's not afraid of her loud voice, but he dreads her unreasonable behavior. Anyway, Wang Huaizhi feels that things can go on like this. As for everyone who laughs at him for being a kept man, he dismisses it all as jealousy. He's not unemployed; how can he be considered a kept man? They're just jealous that his wife earns money and knows how to manage a household.

Before coming, he had done some research on Huapeng Electric Appliances and Huazhong Technology. Since his wife worked at Huapeng Electric Appliances' Beijing office, he thought he knew more about the company than others. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by yesterday's visit to Huapeng Electric Appliances and Huazhong Technology. He felt like a frog in a well, and the shock left him feeling somewhat listless. That Wu Peng, back when he didn't have a factory, he used to brag to him. Now that the factory is doing so well, he's become all deep and mysterious. That guy, he doesn't brag when he should.

After Wu Peng returned, he dragged Wang Huaizhi to the Grand World to listen to music. His brother had suffered so much, never managing to marry a woman he liked. Couldn't he at least broaden his horizons? At least let his brother have some visual enjoyment. Wu Peng also dragged along Li Yaozhong, a prominent figure at the Grand World. Of all their friends, Li Yaozhong was the most frequent visitor to the Grand World. Ever since he sang a song on the Grand World stage, he'd become obsessed, frequently paying out of his own pocket to sing a song. Now he was quite well-known, and the Grand World owner even gave him a free pass.

Li Yaozhong changed into his usual attire at the Grand World: a floral shirt, large sunglasses, and shiny leather shoes. Standing on the stage, he was the most eye-catching old man.

Wang Huaizhi never expected to see Li Yaozhong like this in his lifetime. Was this still the stern-faced security captain in his mind? Li Yaozhong sang on stage, while Wang Huaizhi clapped in a daze below the stage.

After drinking quite a bit, Wang Huaizhi went home and fell asleep immediately. He woke up in the middle of the night and wiped his face to find it covered in tears. He had a dream in which he had abandoned his family and career to come to Shenzhen, worked hard in Shenzhen, became a boss, made a lot of money, and returned home in glory.

The next day, they were indeed returning home, but it was his brother who was in triumph. Well, he could be considered to have benefited from his brother's fame.

Wu Peng brought a large group of people, including his secretary, assistant, and bodyguards, and even urged Yao Fanghua to bring a few more. The two of them drove four cars back to Beijing.

Many years later, Yao Fanghua stood at the entrance of the fan factory once again. This was the place where she had worked hard, a place of both glory and humiliation.

District leaders were already welcoming her at the fan factory gate, which reminded her of the time when she lined up at the factory gate to welcome district leaders when the washing machines rolled off the production line.

Yao Fanghua went to the factory area, the office building, and her former office. She could still see the washing machine in the exhibition hall, still adorned with a large red flower.

Soon, the acquisition of the fan factory was put on the agenda. However, Yao Fanghua only took the fan workshop and office building; she directly cut the washing machine production line. From then on, this small factory would only produce fans, specializing in fan research and positioning itself as a high-end, exquisite floor fan, wall-mounted fan, and ceiling fan. The workers were already available, and as for the management, most of them would definitely be replaced. In addition to this small factory area, Wu Peng discussed with the district about building residential complexes in the rest of the area. In short, the workers were secured, and the district also gained fiscal revenue.

Li Lian's husband, always well-informed, urged Li Lian to visit Yao Fanghua as soon as possible. Guo Xiaojuan accompanied Li Lian.

Guo Xiaojuan tiptoed around; she had never been good at this, and she was quite nervous in front of Yao Fanghua. Anyone could be without a job, but she couldn't. She had a son to support, no man, no family to rely on; she could only rely on herself, and her son could only rely on her. She was terrified that she might make a mistake in front of Yao Fanghua and lose her chance to get back to work.

Even Li Lian, when she came, mostly sided with Guo Xiaojuan. Let's also gossip a bit about the factory's recent gossip.

Geng Youliang was transferred long ago. He was transferred as soon as Director Yu retired. It was Director Yu who made the effort.

Zhou Fengzhi spent money to find a way to transfer, but I heard that he is currently going through a divorce. It is said that Zhou Fengzhi has been currying favor with a female leader. Li Lian's eyes lit up when she talked about gossip, and Guo Xiaojuan couldn't stop her.

Having heard a lot of gossip, Yao Fanghua told them to relax and just go back and wait for news.

After they came to the door, the former colleagues from the fan factory who were still unemployed came one after another, including Zhang Hua and Chen Zhiyuan.

Zhang Hua is understandable, given his average abilities and advanced age. But what's wrong with Chen Zhiyuan? He's a top student, after all. It's one thing to have wasted so many years without making any progress, but surely he could at least be transferred to another factory.

Chen Zhiyuan looked bitter. Over the years, under Yao Fanghua's former glory, he had been completely labeled as incompetent. Because he was promoted to this position by Qi Dongming and Shen Jiao, and Qi Chen was implicated after the trial, he had no chance of promotion or even a change of position.

Chen Zhiyuan looked down and picked at his toes. These two old classmates had really ruined him. He used to be very resentful, thinking that no matter how well Yao Fanghua studied, she was a girl and definitely couldn't compare to him in practical work. He was sure the higher-ups and school leaders thought so too. Didn't he see that he was assigned to a big factory while Yao Fanghua was assigned to a small one? And Shen Jiao even changed careers as soon as she entered the factory, which gave him a certain sense of superiority. Who knew that he would waste so many years like this.

It wasn't that Chen Zhiyuan lacked ability, but he was too petty and didn't trust her. Besides, the two were old classmates, making it awkward and uncomfortable to work with him. So Yao Fanghua recommended that he return to the machinery factory.

After going around in circles, Chen Zhiyuan returned to the machinery factory. He was both happy and worried. He was happy to finally get rid of the fan factory, but worried that after more than ten years, he had returned to square one.

As for Zhang Hua, his attitude towards Yao Fanghua now is exactly the same as it was towards Factory Director Yu. Although Zhang Hua doesn't have great abilities, he's quite diligent in quality control. Yao Fanghua doesn't mind him staying, since he's almost retired anyway. Zhang Hua's attitude is also that he just wants to coast along until retirement.

The office building was renovated, and the former factory director's office became Yao Fanghua's office. For Yao Fanghua now, this place is clearly not very important; it's just a small factory. Although it's not Yao Fanghua's focus, it was once her pursuit.

From now on, she'll be in charge here!

In the evening, Yao Fanghua and Wu Peng finished dinner with Li Chunying and Yu Chengwen and strolled around the fan factory. She listened to Wu Peng talk about his plans for the area. After this direct interaction with the district government, Wu Peng and Yao Fanghua deeply felt the lenient policies of Beijing; everything was developing in a positive direction, and things would definitely get better in the future.

“Mom said she wanted to grow flowers and vegetables, and since a new apartment building is being built, we’ll reserve a ground floor apartment with a small yard for her.”

"good."

“I think we can stay in Beijing more often in the future. Besides holidays, we can also bring the children back during winter and summer vacations.”

"good."

"Maybe when we get old, we'll go back to Beijing to retire?"

"Um."……

Perhaps everyone has feelings for the place where they were born and raised, thinking that one day they might return to their hometown and settle down.